Thoughtful Tech Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832592895
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Covina, CA, USA
Phone
4158135523
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Censorship, Freedom of Speech and Press

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,030,705
Expenses
$207,181
Assets
$841,733
Liabilities
$8,709

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AVIV OVADYA (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AVIV OVADYA (PRESIDENT): $83,457 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To ensure that technology has a positive impact on society, by developing the democratic institutions needed for the age of ai.

What it reported doing in 2024

Building democratic capabilitiesthe ai & democracy foundation (aidf) developed and disseminated non-partisan resources to strengthen democratic infrastructure, which can be used for ai governance and beyond. This included: convening top deliberative democracy practitioner organizations for deep-dive process exploration and improvement workshops; documenting deliberative assembly workflows and establishing a functions-based research approach to deliberative democracy; developing cost models for tracking and comparing resource utilization across deliberative processes; developing a research agenda for adapting machine learning tools to support those processes; and instigating, co-organizing, and supporting an interoperable deliberative tools initiative. This work was presented and discussed at convenings internationally. These activities directly advanced the organization's work to strengthen democratic governance of artificial intelligence and technology more generally by building foundational infrastructure and practitioner capacity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 31
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 11.3%; rating input score 11
  • Program expense ratio: 45.2%; rating input score 45
  • Fundraising efficiency: $163.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 79.9%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.06; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 40.3%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 11.3% of revenue deployed · 45.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $94K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $83K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.